I have invented a unique device, which I call a Memory Box, which provides a permanent record as well as a monthly reminder of important dates such as birthdays and anniversaries of the family, relatives and close friends.
Preferably my Memory Box is constructed from a tastefully decorated metal box which presents a pleasing view to the eye and thus will be a welcome addition to any desk or dressing table.
The flanged cover of the Memory Box contains on its inside face a card onto which important dates and other information can be recorded.
The box itself houses a stack of twelve reusable cards--one for each month--onto which the owner of the box will have made a permanent record of the names and dates of persons and events to be remembered. The current month's card is put on the top of the stack, the next month's card beneath it, followed by the remaining cards in monthly succession. The cards are made of a stiff paper stock, preferably 1/64th to 1/16th of an inch in thickness.
A transparent plastic or glass sheet is mounted longitually across the upper open face of the box. The stack of cards is pushed upwardly against the sheet by a card-supporting shelf. The shelf has essentially the same outer dimensions as the cards and is movable up and down within the box by a helical coiled spring positioned beneath the shelf. The upper end of the spring rests against the lower surface of the shelf while the spring's lower end rests against the bottom of the box or a base resting on the box's bottom surface.
The shelf includes an upwardly inclined slide which projects upwardly from the back side of the shelf at an angle of about 30.degree. with the upper face of the shelf. The slide includes an upper edge which is horizontally coextensive with the surface of the shelf and lies in the same horizontal plane as the opposite edge of the shelf. The stack of cards rests upon the upper edge of the slide and the front side of the shelf.
The box has two horizontal slots in its sides. One slot is located across the hinged or back side of the box and the other slot across the front side opposite to the hinged side of the box, each slot being long enough and wide enough to permit a card to pass through the slot.
The slot in the hinged or back side is located so that a card inserted into the box through the slot will first contact the inclined slide of the shelf. The leading edge of the card will be guided along the upper surface of the slide and as the card is pushed further into the box, the card's leading edge will contact the lower surface of the bottom card in the stack. When the trailing edge of the card is finally pushed through the slot, the inserted card becomes the bottom card in the stack resting upon the shelf and urged upwardly by the spring.
The slot in the opposite or front side of the box is located immediately beneath the lower face of the transparent sheet and a finger-operated card-engaging mechanism is slidably mounted on the sheet to remove the top card from the box. Preferably this mechanism consists of a shuttle having a finger-engaging tab projecting above the upper surface of the sheet and a downwardly projecting single card-engaging horizontal flange sized to move only the top card of the stack out through the horizontal slot in the front side of the box.
The shuttle is mounted to be movable within a horizontal slot in the transparent sheet so that when a human finger is pressed downwardly against the tab and then moved forwardly in the slot, the flange resting against the back edge of the uppermost card urges that card forward into the slot in the front of the box. The leading edge of the card projecting out of the box can then be grasped in one's fingers and slid out of the box. That card is then reinserted into the slot in the back of the box to reappear as the visible top card of the stack eleven months hence.